Net Zero Finance: How financial firms can set science-based climate targets

BusinessGreen staff
clock • 1 min read

VIDEO: SBTi's Nate Aden and Schroders' Stephanie Chang chat to BusinessGreen's James Murray about how financial sector should go about setting stringent financed emissions goals

Companies right across the financial sector - from banks, investors, financial institutions and pension funds - are facing growing scrutiny over the carbon impact of not just their core business, but their entire value chains of investments, financial support and loan books.

Increasingly, financial firms are therefore under pressure to firstly measure and disclose their emissions footprint, and then to use that information to set credible targets to decarbonise their financial portfolios via independent certification schemes, such as the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which has recently launched a new net zero target standard.

Yet while deeply urgent and necessary to drive down emissions from financial portfolios over the next decade and beyond, doing so is an immensely challenging and complex process, and most of the sector is only at the beginning of the journey, if indeed it has even started.

At BusinessGreen's recent Net Zero Finance summit, which took place online in March 2022, Nate Aden, senior associate at the SBTi, and Schroders' head of ESG integration Stephanie Chang both spoke to BG editor in chief James Murry about how companies can and should start on their science-based climate target journey.

Their fascinating and resourceful conversation can be watched back in full again above.

All of the sessions from the Net Zero Finance Summit. which took place virtually in March 2022, are available to watch back on demand for delegates signed up to on demand. More details are available on the event website.

Schroders and the Science-Based Targets initiative are partners of the Net Zero Finance summit.

More on Investment

Smart Pension invests £330m into Octopus Energy renewables funds

Smart Pension invests £330m into Octopus Energy renewables funds

Investment from the pension scheme aimed at financing green energy projects, including ground source heat pumps in South Wales

Martin Richmond
clock 29 July 2025 • 3 min read
Aquila European Renewables board 'disappointed' after preferred bidder changes offer

Aquila European Renewables board 'disappointed' after preferred bidder changes offer

Clean energy investor pauses share selling process after preferred bidder reduces number of assets it had planned to acquire

Sorin Dojan, Investment Week
clock 29 July 2025 • 1 min read
NatWest targets £200bn in climate and transition financing by 2030

NatWest targets £200bn in climate and transition financing by 2030

British banking giant unveils fresh five-year goal after already surpassing its previous £100bn target for the end of 2025

Michael Holder
clock 28 July 2025 • 2 min read